eGPU Results - Clevo P870DM-G + GTX1080 + TB3 HDK / PE4C v4.1 (M.2 NGFF)

Congrats on your working setup, I just want to confirm if a similar setup using one of the available egpu boxes will work on my stock dm-g.

 

No reason why they wouldn't. But they are just re-badged and over priced pieces of hardware.

Then again you gotta be specific, also i haven't tested anything else than the 2 mentioned in the OP.

 

I have a stock bios and my clevo model does have thunderbolt 3 so aIl I want to verify that a akitio box or similar tb3 egpu would work straight out the gate without any bios changes or firmware modification. While researching this I got the impression not all tb3 ports are capable of using egpu. Since yours is working then I can assume my clevo will also work but then again we have different models and I always like to be sure.

 

True.
But you never know what shenanigans Intel is upto with its firmware updates and drivers. The way to know would be to try it.
These are very laptop specific things, and i have not seen anyone else eGPU on the Clevo P7XX / P8XX laptops. So it will be very difficult to get a sure shot answer.

 

where can you buy this HDK and how much it cost?

 

http://www.inxtron.com/products/thunderbolt3-hdk

I would wait on it though, since the Node is coming out soon and its the exact same thing. Minus the extra connectors. And it is going to cost the same, but will be in a case and with a 400W PSU.

 

Compared to razer core which one would you recommend?

 

Unless you want the extra ports and want to save about $200 , definitely wait out for the Node. Plus it wont need any extra drivers, unlike the Razer Core.

 

I can get both for almost the same price (300~)

 

Then the Razer Core makes more sense with its ports. But its somewhat of a hassle to get the drivers running on that. At least if you want to use hot plugging and all.
If you just want to use the eGPU over TB3, it worked pretty easily for me.

While at it grab one of these - https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...2220&sr=8-7&keywords=thunderbolt+3+cable&th=1

Supposedly its an active cable and can maintain higher speeds at the longer length.

 

60usd ;_;

 

Yeah but Phreedum from the 50 cm ༼ つ◕_◕༽つ

 

@bloodhawk Where do you think the value of this product PowerColor Devil Box http://www.anandtech.com/show/10783...evil-box-thunderbolt-3-external-gpu-enclosure falls in comparison to the Razer Core, and Akitio Node? Assuming it works well of course, and also avoiding the strange "devil/tribal" graphics.

Thanks.

 

Pretty good Value IMO. Specially since it comes with additional USB ports.

 

would a P775DM be able to use eGPU via TB3 with stock BIOS?

 

Should be able to. Just make sure you have the latest TB3 firmware.

 

Your thread really got my interest and I was doing some digging around and finding some of your posts in other forums.

From your latest setup it seems you prefer the TB3 setup over the M2?

You've also made mention that putting anything more than an OC 1070 would be a waste, is this just based upon bandwidth numbers and what your 1080 was pushing through?

I'm seriously considering a setup like this as I travel around for work, 1080p screen on my P870DM-G but at home run a 1440p setup and wouldn't mind going UWQHD at some point.

 

Glad you found it helpful.

And yeah, it's mainly not worth it to use anything more than an OCd 1070 over TB3, because of the performance loss. Which is mainly because of the Thunderbolt to PCIe conversion . M2 however maxes out the card. (There might still be a 1-2% limit)

All this was based off of my 1080 and many other results from people using other lower end cards over TB3. The performance however also depends on the processor to a certain extent. Since you have the P870DM, it shouldn't be a problem for you.

 

Has been very helpful. I was nearly on the verge of selling (if I could find a buyer) and going DM2 because of they changes for the graphics card they did and when I last looked I couldn't find anyone having success with an eGPU solution.

Definitely a more affordable solution (and less hassle) with having to sell/change laptops, etc.

Looks like I'll go the TB3 route then even though I'd prefer the performance gain the M2 gives, though it is more hassle. I'm sure others are finding the work you've done extremely helpful.

 

Yeah the real world fps difference isn't too much.

 

I got an impression that the GPU performance depends on bandwidth up to its maximum capacity, so unless you reach over around 60 fps it's worth going higher. There has to be some other limiting factor however, because games don't hit a ceiling at any particular framerate, my guess it's the textures. 1070 is only the sweet spot today because it doesn't really fall below 60 in any modern game with realistic ultra settings (no blind maxing).

 

In a normal scenario that would hold true. But in the case of TB3, there is a conversion overhead which bottle necks the card.

 

I just leave it here:

http://www.notebookcheck.com/Zotac-Externes-Thunderbolt-3-Grafikdock-kommt-zur-CES.189707.0.html

Dunno, if it makes any difference to the other existing docks, but maybe this one comes a lil'bit cheaper.

 

Doubt it. None of them have priced their solutions less than $300, yet.
But with more options, I might happen soon.

 

Just another question about your TB3 setup from the first page, did you connect to an external monitor, or were you using the laptop's monitor?

 

TB3 eGPU only works with external monitors, with systems that only have the dGPU. If your system has Optimus/MSHybrid then you will be able to use the internal display as well, but that will add even more of a performance hit.

 

Unfortunately it's not public.
But if you are using the Node / Thunder 3 , you shouldn't need it.

 

I have that same firmware.

 

I see. Someone has been cheating on me. ;(

 

mine sadly says egpu not supported , makes no sense updated to newest one and all got a devil box trying to play with ,

 

how do i enable it ,?
p870dm g

 

Which device are you trying to use the P870DM-G with?

Sorry answer is you can't enable it unless Clevo has released a firmware update that I'm unaware of.

 

how did you enable on your system ?curious ?

 

Custom Firmware by @Prema .

 

Slightly off-topic (I take my liberties), but have you tried to connect a TB3 eGPU to a notebook that has an Optimus setup AND gotten the eGPU to run applications the notebook's internal display?
I'm currently testing a setup like that, and so far, I've been unsuccessful getting the eGPU to run applications on the notebook's internal display. The eGPU shows up just fine in the Device Manager, and it shows as connected in the system tray. However, the Nvidia Control Panel only shows options for "High-performance NVIDIA processor" or "Integrated graphics". I can't seem to find a way to tell an application I specifically want it to run on the eGPU.
The notebook is an HP Spectre x360 15, and I have a PowerColor Devil Box with a GTX 1080 FE inside.

Also, would you happen to know any specifics about the performance overhead involved in TB3 conversion? Is it the same with every setup, or does it vary?

Charles

 

I personally haven't tried it on any thing other than my Clevo and the Razer Blade.
But there shouldn't any be any issues running it that way. The eGPu is only able to pass through to the internal display if there is Optimus / iGpu enabled.

You might need to disable the other dedicated GPU in the BIOS to be able to use the eGPU. Might even need the latest Thunderbolt firmware from HP.

Also once the eGPU is connected, try disabling the dedicated GPU in the device manager.

As for the over head, it's pretty much the same across the board with similar controllers that work in full duplex mode. Feel had been implementing certain half duplex ones recently in some laps that severely limit the speeds.

 

so basically prema bios? mod?

 

No. This is different. And cannot be flashed normally.

 

I disabled the onboard GeForce GPU in the notebook to no effect; applications would only run on the integrated graphics.
I then hooked up an external monitor to the eGPU box; same result.
I had to disable the notebook's internal display in order for the eGPU to function. And then it worked just fine.

I agree with you that it should be possible for the eGPU to run applications on the notebook's internal display assuming the notebook has integrated graphics. But so far, no dice.

Thanks for the reply anyway.

Charles

 

That is indeed weird. In your BIOS is there any option that lets you completely disable Optimus/MSHybrid?

 

I'll check when I get a chance.

I just hooked up the eGPU to the Dell Latitude 7480 we reviewed, and the eGPU powered the internal display on the notebook just fine. So who knows. This technology seems not to be implemented that consistently.

Charles

 

Cant be more right about that, its an Intel/Apple demon child with **** tons of shady licensing crap.

 

I think it has somthing to do with available PCI-E lanes for the thunderbolt. Your x360 15 only have 2 lanes compared to the 4 lanes that is in the x360 13. that is because of the dGPU. It shuld work fine with external monitor, dont think you have the bandiwidth to send information to eGPU and then back to you screen.

 

As far as i can find they both are using the same processor. The lanes wont be the problem just yet.

 

Im eager to see if someone can get the x360 to work with eGPU via TB3 too.

The laptop is a beast with the ability to upgrade ram to a technically possible 32gb as it is slotted DDR4 modules so to also get that egpu makes it an instant buy for me.

Coincidentally I've been looking into the powercolor devil box as the eGPU enclosure of choice but was wondering if all those extras you do get would be a contributing factor vs something more basic like Akitio's Thunder3 enclosure.

@Charles P. Jefferies Please do keep us updated with the progress I really hope it can be made to work, also what model x360 15-Bl0XXXX are you using?

 

The Spectre 360 15 I have is 15-bl002xx.

The problem with the Spectre x360 for gaming is that it has the 15-watt Intel dual-core processors. Those are not good enough for many of the latest AAA games. Mass Effect Andromeda, for example, recommends a Core i7-4790 quad-core.

I benchmarked Rise of the Tomb Raider with its built-in benchmark; DirectX 11 mode, Very High preset, at 1080p.
HP Spectre x360 15 w/ Core i7-7500U, external display, TB3 eGPU w/ GTX 1080 FE: 72 fps
Dell Latitude 7480 w/ Core i7-7600U, internal display, TB3 eGPU w/ GTX 1080 FE: 59 fps
Desktop w/ Core i7-6700 and the same GTX 1080 FE: 124 fps

I suspect most of the performance hit relative to a desktop comes from the dual-core CPU. @bloodhawk do you have the game, and could benchmark for comparison?

P.S. I couldn't get the Latitude to work properly with only an external display connected to the eGPU, and the internal display disabled. The CPU locked itself at 0.70GHz, but this only appeared to happen when I stressed the eGPU. In Windows and elsewhere, the CPU used its full clocks just fine. I have no idea why. But if we can compare the Dell and HP numbers, the performance hit using the internal display on the notebook is around 20 to 25 percent.

Charles

 

Yeah I have, will test it out this weekend. Laptop is at work at the moment.

 

Greetings people!


I would like to buy Lenovo Legion Y520 (Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ and GTX 1050ti) which is 1k euros or Legion Y720 (i5-7300HQ and GTX 1060 version) which is 1350 euros, but y720 is kind of expensive... So which one is worth buying? Y520 doesn't have TB3 but i think he has M.2 pcie x4 thing? inside. I would prefer cheap one, because i think that GTX 1050ti won't last for a long period of time like 5 years?
My question is:
Is it worth upgrading eGPU like gtx 1070 or 1080 on Y520 via M.2 in few years? I will probably make my own custom eGPU case and buy all cables, coolers, PCU and m.2 to pcie 3.0 connector and slot. But still, in few years eGPU cases will be cheap so uh...

 

That will entirely depend on your usage. And what type of performance you are looking for.